We don't know what it will look like apart from the shape at the moment. It mightn't look anything like the cladding in the pictures:

"The concept designs show a fabric-clad frame, featuring strong geometric designs, graphics or art created by a yet-to-be-appointed cladding subcontractor, and architectural lighting, said the ODA. Cladding will be single-skin, and could be made of recyclable PVC, or even hemp."

So, we don't even know what design or material will clad the building yet! Remember how much the velodrome changed from its draft design after refinements were made?

The image released of the basketball arena is equivilent to the first velodrome image in terms of how far the design process has developed. We'll have to wait before we see the final design of this arena but the image you call "dated and uninspired" is only meant to give us a very good rough idea of what the basketball arena will look like in terms of its shape and its functions. Essentially it's a sketch with the details not quite filled in.

Olympics chiefs are finalising a £60million deal for the 2012 basketball arena to become the world's largest portable sports venue.

Under the deal, a British firm which specialises in sport facilities will build and own the 12,000-seat structure.

The Olympic Delivery Authority will rent it for the summer of 2012. The company, as yet unnamed, will then find it a new home in Britain.

The ODA has opted not to build the basketball venue itself, which it thinks might have cost an extra £40million. The Liverpool Arena designed by Wilkinson Eyre, also the architects for the basketball project, is similar in size and cost £100million.

Olympics chiefs are under pressure to contain costs of temporary structures, including the Woolwich shooting and Greenwich equestrian venues, because they leave no sports legacy.

As the third largest venue in the Olympic Park, the arena poses one of the biggest procurement challenges to the ODA. It is seeking deals with separate companies to supply changing rooms, 12,000 seats, electricals and giant "coolers" - an eco-friendly alternative to air conditioning.

It is expected that basketball will attract hundreds and thousands of fans in the first week of the Games. Security around the venue will be particularly tight as US President Barack Obama is expected to be there to watch the United States "Dream Team".

The venue will also host the final stages of the Olympic handball tournament, shooting and fencing in the modern pentathlon and serve as a holding pen for athletes before the opening ceremony in the stadium.

The basketball arena is temporary as the land it occupies in the north of the Olympic Park is needed for commercial development after the Games. Olympics chiefs had proposed last year to relocate basketball to Wembley but the move was strongly opposed by international basketball chiefs who said this would move the sport away from the core of the Games.

During the Olympic bid, it was claimed that temporary venues may be exported after 2012 to developing nations. But under the rental model the leasing company will decide the use of the venues.

An Olympic source said: "Renting parts of the venue in this way is sustainable for legacy and may enable us to make further savings. The basketball arena will be one of the largest temporary venues built for any Games and will provide a great experience for spectators and athletes."

In November 2007 the ODA appointed Sinclair Knight Merz, Wilkinson Eyre and KSS Group to design the basketball arena. The designs were agreed in June last year, and planning approval was gained in March. Most spectators will get to the venue via Stratford Regional, Stratford International and West Ham stations.

How about, after the games, the basketball arena gets relocated to Newcastle Upon Tyne? Newcastle's current indoor arena (Metro Radio arena) is to be dismantled in the future to make way for a new development. But I don't know if Newcastle would sustain an arena of a 12,000 capacity.

__________________I honestly think all development projects must be sustainable and futureproof.

Construction has begun on the Basketball Arena at London’s Olympic Park, the largest temporary venue on the site. The Basketball Arena will play a key role during the 2012 Olympic Games, with 12,000 seats for the basketball preliminaries and quarter-finals, as well as the handball semi-finals and finals. During the Paralympic Games it will have a capacity of 10,000 for wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby. There is no legacy requirement for the Basketball Arena as the Handball Arena will be turned into a multipurpose sports centre

Initial work on site will include some preparatory investigations for the foundations for the arena. Barr Construction, based in Glasgow, Scotland, will start on site in the spring to build the main structure of the arena. “The Scottish government has been quite clear that we want to see Scottish companies get their fair share of the range of contracts from London 2012,” said Shona Robison MSP, minister for public health and sport in Scotland. “The experience of bidding and hopefully winning more London 2012 contracts can only benefit companies as they prepare for the range of contracts on offer for Glasgow 2014.” Glasgow will host the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

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Spoke to one of the ODA Planners last week about the Basketball Arena and the exterior will not look like the renders showing diagonal cross supports. Instead it was described as being made up what appear to be lots of dome/pop-up tents, like this: http://www.stuff.tv/ProductImages/983200855bli.jpg

Sounds interesting to say the least. This will purely be an aesthetic change.